APS Holds First Learning Fair
APS Staff Share Wealth of Information
By April Govednik

As part of Aurora Public Schools Three Days in June event, staff members had a unique opportunity to listen to special guests and share information.
The Colorado Department of Education Commissioner Dwight Jones spoke to the filled auditorium about the districts VISTA 2010 strategic plan and what he is doing for students. He commended the strategic plan and the improvements that have been seen thus far. “We’re trying to change the culture,” Jones said.
Jones also spoke of the challenges the state faces, district wise as well as policy wise. A noticeable problem is high school and college alignment. “Students should be able to attend college without remediation. The difficulty lies in having all high schools prepare students for the rigors of the college academia.”
Later that day, a learning fair took place in the halls of Gateway High School. Almost every school and department in APS participated. Superintendent Barry stated that the learning fair “serves as an end of year review. We can list goals, data and see what we need to do for next year. We get to see what we have achieved and share what we can learn from one another.”
Display boards showed data and photos of students while staff members spoke about their findings. Dana McDonald, Sixth Avenue Elementary Principal said “It’s nice to have time to share data and different ideas of what works and what hasn’t.”
Ruth Baldivia of Murphy Creek K-8 mentioned how excited she was to share and celebrate their data. This seemed to be the common theme of the data fair. “I believe this is very good because you don’t know where you’re going until you know where you are,” said Dave Roland of William Smith High School.
April Govednik is an intern with the communication department. A 2006 Gateway High School graduate, April is majoring in communications at Chatham University in Pennsylvania.
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